This aritcle has been published in:

Phronema (An Annual Review Published by the Faculty of St Andrews Greek Orthodox
Theological College, Sydney, Australia), vol. 16 (2001), . 105-114.

CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX EDUCATION

AS A CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
BY
EMMANUEL P. PERSELIS
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, GREECE

Over the last few years, many significant attempts have been made to redefine the concept of education. Among other factors, it has been the drastic
and continuous change in socioeconomic, political and scientific endeavours in
the most advanced European countries as well as in the United States of
America, that has rendered this re-evaluation necessary. Special attention has
been given to the values of democracy and the democratic manner by which
European people are governed.
In view of these changes many educators have reconsider their theories of
education and have focused their interest on tuning the teaching process with
the current socioeconomic and political trends. Many of them have valued that
education can effectively contribute to the development of democratic norms
and beliefs within a social system. A new definition of education was necessary,
however, before its functions and values for society could be determined. Many
important educators whose knowledge of ancient Greek as well as
contemporary philosophy was outstanding, began to evaluate the new terms that
would clearly define the function and importance of the concept education .
To them, education is a series of processes which are applied consciously,
systematically and continuously in order to achieve a desired goal1 . The result
of these processes should be in accordance with certain criteria that constitute
the core of the concept of education. The three most important criteria are as
follows:
a. Education means the conveyance of knowledge which is valuable to
those who have the desire to learn and benefit from it.
b. Education should result in knowledge and understanding and some
form of cognitive perspective that cannot be limited.
c. Education should exclude those learning methods of imparting
knowledge that appear to be against the voluntary and conscious acceptance on
the part of the learner2 .
Indoctrination as a form of a non-educational process
As it is clearly realized from the above definition of the concept
education, any form of teaching process or practice that intends to impose
knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to the learners in an authoritarian and

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forceful manner is excluded. In accordance to the given criteria, the
contemporary educational process should therefore definitely exclude any
teaching practice that attempts to include indoctrination3 .
Educators and teachers have debated on the subject of indoctrination as an
undesirable form of teaching. The main argument against indoctrination is the
following: Indoctrination is based on the clear intention of certain
representatives of educational policies, as well as teachers, to mislead and
manipulate minds, to conceal and distort the truth in order to promote their own
ideologies and beliefs.
Apart from intention, two more factors play an important role in
indoctrination. One is method and the other context. It is possible that the
educator in order to fulfil the purpose of indoctrination may use methods of
teaching, which do not promote knowledge and understanding on the part of the
learners. Such methods are: forcing the learners to learn by heart, imposing
emotional blackmail, exposing them to endless monologues and discouraging
them from asking questions through which they would have actively participate
in the classroom. Important tools for indoctrination are the textbooks used
throughout the school years by teachers who have never been informed or held
responsible for their content. At least in Greece school curriculum and thereby
textbooks used, are decided by the government officials, who, through the
Ministry of Education, allocate the writing of these books to individuals of their
own choice.
Content is also important where indoctrination is concerned. As certain
educators claim, there are particular school subjects containing dogmatic
knowledge and beliefs with an inherent difficulty of verification. In other
words, learners are taught through their textbooks certain ideas and beliefs
which are so dogmatic that do not fulfil the criteria of education. Among the
school subjects that could convey this form of dogmatic knowledge are
religious education, moral education and civil education. In the case of these
school subjects, some educators claim that the scientific rules and the rules of
logic in general are unable to support the substance and the truth claimed by the
dogmas and beliefs they convey. The same educators wonder if it is possible at
all for such subjects do be included in the school curriculum, as they do not
fulfil one of the basic criteria of education, namely the criterion of promotion of
knowledge and understanding and a kind of cognitive perspective.
Moreover, the educators who criticize content as the basic characteristic
of indoctrination protest by claiming that another criterion of education is not
fulfiled as well: This is the criterion according to which the educational process
excludes any type of knowledge, which is opposite to what the learner
voluntarily and consciously wishes to learn. In summary, these educators pose
the following question: Is it appropriate for teachers to teach learners and mould
their minds according to certain ideologies and beliefs without their consent?
To answer the above questions/doubts of the educators concerning the
content of certain school subjects in relation to indoctrination, the following
reply could be considered satisfactory: It is possible to avoid indoctrination by
teaching the most important and universally existing ideologies, doctrines and
beliefs (or systems of beliefs). In such teaching, the absolute commitment to
any ideology, doctrine or belief is not required. On the contrary, this kind of

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teaching will be an effort to promote critical judgment and free choice on the
part of the learners to accept or reject any ideology, doctrine or belief. This
reply possible satisfies an educational system within a complex, multicultural,
multiracial and multireligious society. This is because no doctrine, no ideology
and no belief will be imposed or promoted against any other. What is aimed at
is the development of an open mind that would tolerate, understand, respect,
appreciate and evaluate the different cognitive aspects and behavioural patterns
that constitute a doctrine, an ideology or a system of beliefs. In that case, the
teaching process cannot be viewed as opposed to the given criteria of education.
Moreover, it is not possible to exclude from the curriculum the teaching of the
different doctrines and beliefs because of their remarkable contribution to the
peoples experience and understanding of the world and themselves.
Christian Orthodox Education and Indoctrination
Following what has been said above, one comes to wonder whether the
Christian Orthodox Education is indeed a contemporary educational process
and how it is related to an educational system that fulfils the contemporary
criteria of education. In other words, is Christian Orthodox Education a form of
indoctrination or is it not? If it is not, then one must set up the criteria that
would guarantee its contribution to the contemporary educational process.
It must be said right from the beginning that there is an inherent danger in
Christian Education in general, and in Christian Orthodox Education in
particular to be characterized as a form of indoctrination. This is because the
content of such education is based on faith, doctrines and beliefs, the logical
explanation and verification of which becomes impossible. Those in favour of
such an argument are very absolute about logic and reason. These supporters
overcome the fact that, far and beyond the human reason and logic, there is the
human intuition, the experience and also the tendency people have to refer to
and be depended upon that highest transcendental and supernatural reality. This
reality as comprehended and experienced by Christians forms a point of
reference, in theory and practice, for their life, the world around them,
themselves and also their fellow men and women. This theory and practice
derives among other sources from the faith in the Revelation and Incarnation
of the Son and Word of God, namely Jesus Christ. The dual nature of Jesus
Christ (divine and human) determines the course of His Church through the
centuries and renders those baptized in His name guardians and interpreters of
His words and deeds through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Such a reality is not possible to be either overlooked or underestimated.
The Christian Orthodox religion, therefore, cannot be considered irrelevant to
the contemporary educational system. Moreover the view that its content leads
to indoctrination is rather unsuccessful. This is so because the ground upon
which Christian Orthodox Education is based, namely the Revelation and the
Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, has a substantial and worthwhile character.
In Jesus Christ the two natures, divine and human, have been united in an
indivisible and perfect way. The substantial union of the two natures in the
divine-human person of Jesus Christ is revealed through the love of God - Man
Jesus Christ for all human beings (the Incarnation). This is made manifest

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through His testimony, which provides an easier and more direct participation
of all the people in the Kingdom of God (through His preaching, miracles,
parables, Passion and Resurrection). Finally, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
who leads and guides the spiritual life of all Christians in the Church (through
the sacraments, the tradition of the Church Fathers, monasticism, etc.).
Love, testimony and spirituality are therefore the features (criteria/value
judgments) which constitute the Christian life. These features, apart from being
very valuable in themselves, are also important to the people and the modern
society in which they live. In other words, modern society needs to adopt and
promote values, which are based upon Christian love, testimony and
spirituality.
Critical openness and Christian Orthodox Education
The Christian characteristics of love, testimony and spirituality must be
interpreted, understood and experienced in a way that would not contradict the
educational processes mentioned above. If one of the criteria of contemporary
education is the development of knowledge and understanding, it follows that
the development of a critical openness for interpretation, acceptance and
experiencing of the content of Christian Orthodox teaching and tradition by
teachers and students alike, is absolutely essential4 .
At this point I will mention only two of the numerous existing examples
in order to indicate that Christian Orthodox teaching and tradition does not
exclude critical openness for the interpretation, understanding and experiencing
of its message. On the contrary, Christian Orthodox teaching and tradition
pursues and encourages critical openness. The first example is taken from the
Gospels. The example refers to the parable of the talents (Mt. 25,14-30 and Lk.
19,11-27). By this parable, Jesus Christ urges His listeners to be vigilant and
risk their faith with deeds. Such an attitude would help them to be tested and to
endure continuously and constantly in order to be prepared for the Last
judgment and salvation. To accomplish this, one definitely needs to acquire
knowledge, thought, reflection, imagination, insight, choice, courage, daring
and responsibility. Moreover, the very same Gospels sayings encourage us to
question, think and reflect upon their content. In order to comprehend,
experience and apply the message of the Gospel, one needs to develop insight
and the ability to choose and decide (compare the phrase of the Gospel: you
have ears to hear, then hear Mk. 4,9).
The second example is taken from the Orthodox tradition of the Holy
Fathers. It is the well-known tract of St. Basil the Great (329-379) with the title:
Adress to Young men on Reading Greek Literature. St. Basil addresses his
nephews and advises them in a responsible and educative way not to be afraid
to study the ancient Greek literature, provided that this study is done in a critical
manner.
St. Basil the Great approaches a huge and disputable question of his time.
It regards the relation between Hellenism and Christianity. The advice he gives
to his nephews, and through them to all Christians of all times and ages, is
momentous and noteworthy: Never be afraid of classical learning and the
possible influences this learning might have on the development of human

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character and behaviour. According to St. Basil the Great what counts most is
the submission and dependence of classical learning on the general purpose of
Christian life. The ultimate aim of every Christian should be to achieve a union
with God (theosis). Yet for that same reason, the Word of God, as it is
articulated in the Holy Scriptures, constitutes the unique source of guidance for
all Christians. Therefore, as St. Basil emphasises, it is the duty of every
Christian to make responsible judgments and choose any useful information
there is in human wisdom outside the Christian tradition. That choice should be
made on the basis of the teaching of the Gospel and the salvation of a persons
soul, which should be the ultimate purpose of every Christian in the present life.
This thesis of St. Basil constitutes, finally, an exhortation to the Christians
of all ages to respect and appreciate the best and most useful information there
is within the global human tradition and experience. This exhortation is
rendered especially appropriate for today and it should be followed by those
who are occupied or will be occupied in the future with teaching and research
work in every society, which is rapidly affected by the outcomes of the
phenomenon of pluralism and postmodernism.
Some representative extracts of the above-mentioned tract of St. Basil the
Great are quoted below. In these extracts, one can undoubtedly distinguish the
wide and open mind of the Holy Father:
Do not wonder, you who go to schools and study the works of
literature of great ancient writers, if I think that I can tell you
something more beneficial with respect to these works. Because my
purpose is to advice you exactly this, namely: do not hand over to
those writers, once and for all, the helm of your mind just as one
would abandon the ships helm, nor follow them wherever they
guide you, but try to accept from them only whatever is useful and
be able to distinguish whatever you must leave aside...The Holy
Scriptures are guiding us to the future life through a mysterious
teaching. Yet, till your age allows you to understand the depth of
this teaching, it is beneficial to prepare your soul with other books
which are not totally different but are like shadows and mirrors of
the Holy Scriptures. This is how future military officials are trained
in order to be prepared for their profession: first they train their
body with exercises and then, at the course of a battle, they are able
of fighting thus enjoying the benefit of the fruitful training.
Accordingly, we too are preparing for a battle, the greatest of all. In
order to win this battle, we have to work as much as we can: to
study the works of the poets, writers and orators and get to know
them better as we should do with any person who can be useful to
our soul. Just like those who paint first prepare the object to be
painted and then use the colour, red or other, so we must (if we
want to form a clear opinion about virtue) submit ourselves to a
preliminary process, prepare ourselves, approach ancient wisdom
and then try to understand the mystery of Christian teaching: first
our eyes should become accustomed to the suns brightness
reflected upon the surface of the water and then stare directly at the

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real sun.
So if there is any affinity between these two sources of wisdom,
learning them is obviously beneficial. On the other hand, if there is
no affinity, it is again useful to compare them because then their
differences will become apparent and the best will be confirmed.
Yet, what can we resemble with the two teachings in order to
have a true image of them? Theres the answer: a plant has a
definite main purpose to produce fruits every season; but also the
leaves decorate and embellish it as the wind blows around branches.
The same is true for the soul: its fruit is above all the truth. But
ancient wisdom dresses it with charm as the leaves protect the fruit
and provide the suitable ornament in good time. It is even said that
Moses, famous to all people for his wisdom, was initially educated
in the Egyptian knowledge and later approached and found the real
Truth. After him so did Daniel in Babylon who, according to certain
accounts was initially educated in the teachings of the Chaldeans
and was later dedicated to the study of divine teaching...Therefore,
from the works of the ancient writers, we will accept only that part
which praises virtue and accuses vice. Just as all people enjoy only
the colour and the pleasant scent of flowers, but only bees know
how to extract the honey, so the soul can benefit from studying only
when a person seeks in books something deeper than pleasure. Even
so, they should still do like the bees: bees dont go to all kinds of
flowers, they do not try to take all there is, but simply whatever is
needed, leaving the rest behind. Hence, we should study only those
parts, which are relevant to the Truth, leaving the rest aside, if we
want to be wise. Just as we cut only the rose buds from a rose bush
avoiding the thorns, so we should take whatever is useful from these
works of ancient literature, protecting ourselves from the harmful
parts...5 .
Conclusion
As a conclusion to this article it could be said that Christian Orthodox
Education sufficiently fulfils the prerequisites needed to characterize it as a
contemporary educational process. But in order to maintain this characterization
and also bring about relative educational results, one needs I think to keep in
mind two presuppositions. First, Christian Orthodox Education needs to be upto-date and capable of promoting dialogue between various sciences and
intellectual achievements in general within the global human expe-rience and
thought. Secondly, Christian Orthodox Education must promote critical
thinking within the processes of interpretation, understanding and expe-rience
of its content consciously, systematically and continuously.
Fulfilment of these presuppositions does not mean that all problems
arising in the course of the work within the boundaries of Christian Orthodox
Education are automatically and effectively solved. We hope that Christian
Orthodox Education and its participants (mainly educators and learners) all
heading for the final judgment and justification will not remain idle but will

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seek be enriched and renewed through the invocation and inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAZAN B. (1972), Indoctrination and Religious Education, in Religious
Education, vol. 67, pp. 243-252.
ELLIOT J. (1969),What is Indoctrination? A Reply to M.V.C. Jeffreys, in
Learning for Living, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 13-16.
HIRST P.H. and PETERS R.S. (1970), The Logic of Education, London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul.
HULL J.M. (1975), School Worship. An Obituary, London: SCM Press.
HULL J.M. (1981), Christian Nurture and Critical Openess, in Scottish
Journal of Theology, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 17-37.
JEFFREYS M.V.C. (1968), Truth is not Nutral, in Learning for Living, vol.
8, no. 2, pp. 7-10.
KAZEPIDES T. (1987), Indoctrination, Doctrines and the Foundations of
Rationality, in Philosophy of Education 1987: Proceedings of the Fortythird Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society, Normal,
Illinois, Philosophy of Education Society, pp. 229-240.
LEAHY M. (1990), Indoctrination, Evangelization, Catechesis and Religious
Education, British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 137144.
MARTHALER B.L. (1987), Dilema for Religious Educators: Indoctrination or
Indifference, in Religious Education, vol. 82, no. 4, pp. 555-568.
PERSELIS E. P. (1984), Religious Education in Greece. Its origin, development
and future. With special reference to Religious Education in England,
Athens (reprinted from Theologia).
PETERS R.S. (1966), Ethics and Education, London: George Allen and Unwin.
PETERS R.S. (1967), What is an Educational Process?, in R.S. Peters (ed.),
The Concept of Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
PETERS R.S. (1973), Authority, Responsibility and Education, London:
George Allen and Unwin, third edition.
PETERS R.S. (ed.) (1967), The Concept of Education, London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
SMART P. (1973), The Concept of Indoctrination, in G. Langford and D.J.
OConnor (eds), New Essays in the Philosophy of Education, London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 33-46.
SNOOK I.A. (1972a), Indoctrination and Education, London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
SNOOK I.A. (ed.) (1972b), Concepts of Indoctrination. Philosophical Essays,
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
WHITE J.P. (1967), Indoctrination, in R.S. Peters (ed.), The Concept of
Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 177-191.
WILSON J. (1964), Education and Indoctrination, in T.B. Hollins (ed.), Aims
in Education, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 24-46.
WILSON J. (1972), Indoctrination and Rationality, in I.A. Snook (ed.),
Concepts of Indoctrination. Philosophical Essays, London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul, pp. 17-24.

OTES

1 Cf. R.S. Peters (1967), pp. 1-3. Also: R.S. Peters (1966) and (1973), P.H. Hirst and
R.S. Peters (1970).
2
See R.S. Peters (1966), p. 45. Cf. E.P.Perselis (1984), pp. 33-36.
3
From the very reach bibliography on the subject of indoctrination see the following:
B. Chazan (1972), J. Elliot (1969), M.V.C. Jeffreys (1968), T. Kazepides (1987), M. Leahy
(1990), B.L. Marthaler (1987), P. Smart (1973), I.A. Snook (1972a and b), J.P. White (1967),
J. Wilson (1964) and (1972). Also cf. E.P. Perselis (1984), pp. 36-39.
4
In this respect see the important analysis on the subject of critical openness in
Christian Education by J.M. Hull (1975), especially pp. 104-117, and by the same author
(1981).
5
M. D. Stasinopoulos, Fourth Centurys AD. Personalities. Historical introduction on
the tract Address to Young Men on Reading Greek Literature of St. Basil the Great,
Athens: Hestia , 1980, second edition (in Greek), pp. 229-231, 235-237, 239-241.

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